The difference between 1A and 1B will almost certainly come down to which hand they shoot with.

Coquitlam junior Adanac graduates Travis Cornwall and Jackson Decker seem to be the consensus top two picks ahead of the Feb. 6 Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) draft, a lottery in which the senior Adanacs have that coveted top pick.

In assessing their needs, the Adanacs' brass won't have to look too far outside of their proverbial backyard: Decker's a Port Moody native, while Cornwall played all of his minor and junior lacrosse in Coquitlam.

"Our biggest need is right-handed offensive players - we need some offensive-oriented guys," said senior Adanacs general manager Randy Delmonico. "We're fairly happy with the rest of where our lineup is."

Interestingly enough, Decker fits that mould - a right-handed, offence-first player with a knack for finding the back of the net. Cornwall, on the other hand, is a lefty known for his all-around game and ability to put up points.

"I believe that [Cornwall] is the best athlete in the entire draft, whether we're talking about East or West - he's got everything and he does everything well," Delmonico said. "Decker is a right-handed offensive player who's not afraid to go through the middle and he finishes when he gets there."

Decker is about to kick off his fourth year in the collegiate field lax loop at Limestone College in South Carolina, and was recently named a pre-season first team All American. Cornwall has figured into two of the first three games of the National Lacrosse League season with the Calgary Roughnecks, and is playing under outgoing junior Adanacs coach Curt Malawsky.

Decker's final year in the junior A loop last season saw the Heritage Woods grad put up 55 points, including 28 goals, in just 12 games. He added 29 points in eight playoff games to finish third in postseason scoring.

Cornwall tallied 106 points in his final junior campaign, good for third overall. In the playoffs, however, the Coquitlam native's 32 points in eight games led all second season scorers.

And while their numbers are similar, so too are their are responses when musing over going first overall.

"I just want to get drafted," Cornwall said. "For me it's about how much you get to play and how well you do in your career more than where you got drafted. When people look back at your career, no one really remembers where you got drafted. It's all about how you played."

"Everyone would like to go first overall, but for me it will just be nice to get drafted high and go to a competitive team and see how much I can help them," Decker added. "Those are the main things I'm worried about."

After Coquitlam, Burnaby will pick second and third before Maple Ridge makes the fourth overall selection. Langley, Victoria and Nanaimo round out the fifth, sixth and seventh spots in the first round of the draft, while Coquitlam gets the first and second picks in Round 2.

"I've had talks with some of the other teams about various people and draft picks, but no one's come shopping for that No. 1 pick," Delmonico noted. "It doesn't really surprise me. If you look at who's going No. 1 and No. 2, I'm sure they're thinking there's no way we're giving it up, which is true."

In sizing up the first two potential picks, Malawsky had nothing but glowing reviews for his two recent graduates.

"The first thing that comes to mind for both of those kids is character," he said. "They both fit in very well into a team regime. They're very similar in that they're very, very good athletes and they're big strong boys. Both of them can be prototypical WLA guys - they both have huge engines with good motors in them and they can run for days."

That being said, running with teenagers isn't the same as keeping up with the men.

"That's going to be an adjustment," Malawsky said. "They're not going to be able to bowl guys over like they were able to do in junior. I think they're going to have to be a bit more meticulous and methodical in how they're going to approach getting to the net. But at the end of the day, their athleticism and their instincts should help them."

The WLA draft gets underway at 7 p.m. on Feb. 6 at the Burnaby Firefighter's Club.

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